The present invention relates to a harness accommodating device used to accommodate harnesses manufactured by a harness manufacturing apparatus.
Harness manufacturing apparatuses that manufacture harnesses by connecting connectors to both end portions of electrical wires have been used in the past. The numerous harnesses manufactured by such a harness manufacturing apparatus are successively discharged into a tray, from the harness discharge part of the harness manufacturing apparatus. When these numerous harnesses are discharged into such a tray, the electrical wires of the discharged harnesses may become entangled with each other in the tray. Accordingly, the electrical wire portions of the harnesses are tied into bundles by means of a tape in order to prevent entanglement of the electrical wires with each other.
For example, the apparatus shown in FIG. 8 is known as a harness manufacturing apparatus that performs such tying into bundles (see Japanese Patent No. 2942981).
This harness manufacturing apparatus performs the tying into bundles of a plurality of harnesses 109, and is equipped with a pair of discharge guide rails 101, 102 which are used to discharge the harnesses 109. Furthermore, at the discharge ends of these discharge guide rails 101 and 102, an adhesive tape 106 is installed by means of a wrapping unit, which consists of a tape holding block 103 and a tape tensioner 104, so that this adhesive tape 106 cuts across the movement path of a plurality of electrical wires 105 gathered into bundles in a plurality of harnesses 109.
As is shown in FIG. 8(A), the plurality of electrical wires 105 gathered into bundles in a plurality of harnesses 109 move in the discharge direction through the area where the adhesive tape 106 is disposed while being caused to contact the adhesive surface of the adhesive tape 106, so that the adhesive tape adheres to the periphery of the electrical wires 105. In this case, the tip end holding part 107a of a tape tip end holding lever 107 is positioned on the recessed surface 103a of a tape holding block 103, and holds the tip end of the adhesive tape 106.
Furthermore, as the discharge of the harnesses 109 is continued, the protruding part 104a of the tape tensioner 104 reaches a position where it faces the recessed surface 103a of the tape holding block 103, as shown in FIG. 8 (B). As a result, the adhesive surfaces of the adhesive tape 106 adhere to each other, so that the tying into bundles of the electrical wires 105 that have been gathered into bundles is completed. In this case, the tape tip end holding lever 107 pivots so that the tip end holding part 107a is withdrawn from the recessed surface 103a. Then, the tape cutter 108 pivots so that it protrudes toward the tip end of the tape holding block 103, and the electrical wires 105 that have been tied into a bundle are cut away from the following adhesive tape 106. Then, the plurality of harnesses 109 in which the electrical wires 105 have been tied into a bundle are discharged to the outside, and are accommodated in a tray.
Although this is not shown in the figures, a harness manufacturing apparatus in which the suspended electrical wires can be tied into bundles for each harness by an automated process without human intervention is proposed in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2586251.
However, in both of these conventional harness manufacturing apparatuses, although the electrical wire portions of the harnesses can be tied into bundles, the harnesses in which the wires are thus tied into bundles are simply discharged into a tray. When the harnesses are simply discharged into a tray, the harnesses are scattered loosely inside the tray, which is extremely bothersome and inconvenient for workers who remove the harnesses from the tray and perform subsequent work. Accordingly, at the time that the harnesses are discharged, workers must constantly remove the harnesses and arrange the harnesses inside the tray. As a result, automated operation of the harness manufacturing apparatus is difficult.
An object of the present invention is to provide a harness accommodating device which is devised so that harnesses manufactured by a harness manufacturing apparatus can be accommodated by an automated process without human intervention, thus allowing automated operation of the harness manufacturing apparatus.
The harness accommodating device of the present invention is equipped with a transfer section which is installed in the harness discharge part of a harness manufacturing apparatus that manufactures harnesses by connecting connectors to both end portions of electrical wires, and which temporarily holds the aforementioned harnesses, a chuck which grips and conveys the aforementioned harnesses held by the aforementioned transfer section, and a bundle receiver which accommodates the aforementioned harnesses conveyed by the aforementioned chuck.